Maintenance ‐ roads with paved shoulders are easier to maintain, as paved shoulders:

Provide structural support to the pavement;

Discharge water further from the travel lanes, reducing the undermining of the base and subgrade;

Provide space for maintenance operations and snow storage;

Provide space for portable maintenance signs;

Facilitate painting of fog lines.

Importance of Drainage

The presence of water in a highway layer reduces the bearing capacity of the road, and in doing so it also reduces the structure's lifetime. Indeed, the recent extremely cold winter in many parts of Europe has shown that in colder climates there is a risk of frost damage when water is present resulting in costly potholes, so drainage systems performing properly are important in road design.

And while motorists driving along a road see little of such systems, they are an expensive and vital element of the structure where the surface drainage system looks after the run-off water from rainfall. This is where the waterproof surface with a crossfall leads the rainwater to drains. Sub-surface drainage systems safely remove groundwater and water getting in through the pavement's surface.